The Green Infrastructure Foundation (GIF) is pleased to announce the release of the report Community, Equity, and Placemaking with Green Infrastructure in Seattle: A Visualization and Cost-Benefit Analysis.

The report was an effort by GIF, in partnership with Seattle-area non-profit housing providers Capitol Hill Housing and InterIm CDA, and looked at the transformative potential of green infrastructure in three Seattle-area neighborhoods: Capitol Hill, Japantown/International District, and White Center.

Teams of interdisciplinary experts and local stakeholders convened for a one-day exercise where they reimagined their communities using green infrastructure. A cost-benefit analysis was conducted on the results, showing a compelling argument for green infrastructure.

Before and after visualization of Belmont Avenue with green infrastructure

The analysis from one site, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, found that a $1.01 million investment in construction, with an annual maintenance cost of $21,700, would provide a net benefit of $3.52 million over 50 years, while creating 33 job-years of employment over that period.